[release]Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- A South Korean court sentenced two teenagers to prison terms Monday after they admitted bullying a school classmate until he committed suicide.
The two, both 15, were sentenced to terms of three years and three and a half years. The Daegu District Court said the teens' prison terms could be reduced by a year, depending on their behavior while in prison, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.
Beginning in April 2011, the two forced the victim to play online games on their behalf, took the game winnings and beat him frequently, according to the court.
The teens also admitted to taking food from the victim's home, pushing his head into the sink and forcing him to eat biscuits off the ground, the court said.
Battling South Korea's bullies

The victim killed himself by jumping off a building last December, naming his assailants in a suicide note.
The incident sent shock waves across the country and led to police and prosecutors cracking down on school bullying.
While neither of the plaintiffs have a criminal record, the court said in a statement, prison terms were issued because of the outcome and seriousness of the crime and high public criticism.

The parents of the bullied student, who are both schoolteachers, filed suit earlier this month against the school, its head teacher and principal, and the parents of both convicted middle school students, Yonhap said.[/release]

Not really, it's not like they were fully aware of what they were doing.
What they did is terrible, unfortunately I have a feeling this will be active for some time now until it's forgotten, which happens a lot with bully suicide cases.

"they're just kids" is a pretty shitty reason for not sending people to jail.

i think it's a very good reason. there's a point to the whole, trying minors as minors, because youth generally don't think their decisions through or aren't mature enough to understand the consequences of their actions. age 15 is too young to go to prison, especially for 3 years. all this is gonna do is destroy 2 more lives, so now we're left with 1 dead kid, 2 kids who will come out of prison at 18 with their lives pretty much already wrecked and 3 destroyed families.

i think it's a very good reason. there's a point to the whole, trying minors as minors, because youth generally don't think their decisions through or aren't mature enough to understand the consequences of their actions. age 15 is too young to go to prison, especially for 3 years. all this is gonna do is destroy 2 more lives, so now we're left with 1 dead kid, 2 kids who will come out of prison at 18 with their lives pretty much already wrecked and 3 destroyed families.

...beat him frequently... pushing his head into the sink and forcing him to eat biscuits off the ground

i don't know bro, 15 is a p. decent age to start understanding consequences of actions and it seems here they knew exactly what they were doing.

i think it's a very good reason. there's a point to the whole, trying minors as minors, because youth generally don't think their decisions through or aren't mature enough to understand the consequences of their actions. age 15 is too young to go to prison, especially for 3 years. all this is gonna do is destroy 2 more lives, so now we're left with 1 dead kid, 2 kids who will come out of prison at 18 with their lives pretty much already wrecked and 3 destroyed families.

I recently turned 16, and i have known for several years that if i beat up someone, terrorize them, and bully them intensly, the person i am doing that to might start feeling bad. If they were 10 years old, and only used verbal assaults, then maybe it would have been overkill, but since they are 15, and were beating him up, and using him to generate profits for them through a game (A quite complicated process i guess, meaning they were smart enough to understand how a slave could make them money), they must have known that he might oppose to it.

Jesus Christ, Prison for bullying some kid who was obviously mentally unstable? Kid couldn't stand up for himself and jumps off the a building? Someone who is suicidal is clearly mentally unstable, and therefor it wasn't really the kids fault for him to belly flop himself off a building.

Jesus Christ, Prison for bullying some kid who was obviously mentally unstable? Kid couldn't stand up for himself and jumps off the a building? Someone who is suicidal is clearly mentally unstable, and therefor it wasn't really the kids fault for him to belly flop himself off a building.

"The teens also admitted to taking food from the victim's home, pushing his head into the sink and forcing him to eat biscuits off the ground, the court said."

"The teens also admitted to taking food from the victim's home, pushing his head into the sink and forcing him to eat biscuits off the ground, the court said."

Yes, of course it wasn't really the bully's fault.

Them taking food from his house is implying HE let them in. Why the fuck would he do that if they bullied him? Also, pushing his head into the sink? WOW now that's something to kill yourself over! (/sarcasm) When they did that he should of simply waited til they let him up, then turned around and started swinging. OHHH he had to eat a cookie from the ground? i was eating a mrs. fields cookie while walking today (<--- HIGHLY RECOMMENDED they're fucking delicious) I dropped it, Proceeded to pick it up, dust if off and continue to eat it. Should i now go kill myself?

Them taking food from his house is implying HE let them in. Why the fuck would he do that if they bullied him? Also, pushing his head into the sink? WOW now that's something to kill yourself over! (/sarcasm) When they did that he should of simply waited til they let him up, then turned around and started swinging. OHHH he had to eat a cookie from the ground? i was eating a mrs. fields cookie while walking today (<--- HIGHLY RECOMMENDED they're fucking delicious) I dropped it, Proceeded to pick it up, dust if off and continue to eat it. Should i now go kill myself?

I'm ignorant? I would consider the person telling another human they should go kill themselves for simply voicing an opinion YOU disagree with to kill themselves, as being the ignorant party in this discussion.

Them taking food from his house is implying HE let them in. Why the fuck would he do that if they bullied him? Also, pushing his head into the sink? WOW now that's something to kill yourself over! (/sarcasm) When they did that he should of simply waited til they let him up, then turned around and started swinging. OHHH he had to eat a cookie from the ground? i was eating a mrs. fields cookie while walking today (<--- HIGHLY RECOMMENDED they're fucking delicious) I dropped it, Proceeded to pick it up, dust if off and continue to eat it. Should i now go kill myself?

Them taking food from his house is implying HE let them in. Why the fuck would he do that if they bullied him? Also, pushing his head into the sink? WOW now that's something to kill yourself over! (/sarcasm) When they did that he should of simply waited til they let him up, then turned around and started swinging. OHHH he had to eat a cookie from the ground? i was eating a mrs. fields cookie while walking today (<--- HIGHLY RECOMMENDED they're fucking delicious) I dropped it, Proceeded to pick it up, dust if off and continue to eat it. Should i now go kill myself?

While you may enjoy dunking your head in toilets and eating shit off the ground, did it occur to you that others might not?

Also, did it occur that perhaps these idiots broke into his home

But none of those things happened.

The fact that the kids admitted to forcing him eat a biscuit off the ground.
Teenagers fight all the time and nobody cares.

The whole fact of the matter is that the kid committed suicide because he was afraid to speak.
Once you're afraid to utter a word to anybody who may care, you may as well die.
Ignorance as an excuse is poor, this kid was brought up badly to not be able to talk.

I'm ignorant? I would consider the person telling another human they should go kill themselves for simply voicing an opinion YOU disagree with to kill themselves, as being the ignorant party in this discussion.

Yes, you are ignorant because you clearly don't know shit about the situation or what it's like to be bullied like that.

On a more positive note, at least the punishment wasn't just a slap on the wrist like it is for lots of other countries. Making an example like this might discourage others in S. Korea to prevent bullying.

Yes, you are ignorant because you clearly don't know shit about the situation or what it's like to be bullied like that.

On a more positive note, at least the punishment wasn't just a slap on the wrist like it is for lots of other countries. Making an example like this might discourage others in S. Korea to prevent bullying.

Youth are subject to bullying all the time, resulting often in much harsher physical and emotional abuse than this poor kid, but again it does not merit the cowardly act of jumping off a building.